Feb. 9, 2012

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Information about the Sounds of Freedom range are available at www.sof-usa.com, or by calling 485-4867. The Department of Conservation will hold its NRA First Steps handgun basics training at 8:30 a.m. March 3. Information on registering for the free class is available at 742-4361.

Handgun basics

Other opportunities for learning handgun basics are available. The Missouri Department of Conservaition’s Andy Dalton Range near Bois D’Arc holds five or six beginning handgun sessions a year, range supervisor Mike Brooks said. “It’s pretty much a full-package program,” Brooks said of the course,which will next be held on March 3. “They gain a lot of information, a lot of knowledge in a short time.” The free course is based on the National Rifle Association’s First Step program, Brooks said.

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There was a note of triumph in Verna Parker’s voice. “Five sixty-four,” Parker announced. “I’m getting up there toward 600.”

Parker wasn’t talking about her best-yet bowling score. Instead, Parker was aiming at improving on her personal best in putting .22 slugs into a paper target at Sounds of Freedom shooting range in Ozark.

Parker is among a growing number of women and men enjoying target shooting with handguns. “It’s so much fun to do this,” Parker said after taking part in a Bullseye session at the range. “This is so precise.”

Brad Paul and his father, A.G., turned from home building to building and running a shooting range.

The younger Paul said interest in target shooting is an outgrowth in the booming interest in handguns for self-defense.

A lot of competition participants get started by signing up for a conceal-and-carry training course that includes time shooting on the range, he said. New shooters who are learning to handle their weapons often discover target shooting is an enjoyable activity.

Like any other sport from football to golf, the score’s the thing in handgun target shooting, he said.

”It’s really fun to shoot a really small target,” he said.

Although Annette McEvoy wasn’t shooting, she showed up at Sounds of Freedom to catch up with acquaintances.

The muffled pops and booms from handguns being fired in the enclosed range didn’t faze McEvoy when it came to talking about the atmosphere at Sounds of Freedom.

“We’ve met so many people here,” McEvoy said. “It’s more like a bridge club.” That’s what the Pauls intended.

Brad Paul said he and his father decided after checking out dozens of ranges that a family- and woman-friendly atmosphere would bring in more members who pay an annual fee to use the facility.

“We wanted a place where women would feel safe coming in by themselves,” the elder Paul said.

Competitions

The range is home to a variety of competitions, but the local Bullseye competition is most popular, Brad Paul said.